Troops fire in air to ward off foreign diplomats touring Jenin; IDF apologizes
Army says group strayed from approved route; videos show representatives from UK, France, Canada, Russia, China and elsewhere scrambling for cover as shots ring out
A group of diplomats from nearly two dozen countries were seen fleeing for cover during a trip to the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday as Israeli troops fired in the air to warn them away.
No injuries were reported in the confrontation, which involved diplomats from Britain, Canada, France, China, Russia and the European Union, among others, according to the Palestinian Authority foreign ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces apologized for the incident, which sparked an angry reaction from diplomats and is liable to further sour ties between Jerusalem and swaths of the international community amid mounting global criticism of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and its treatment of Palestinians.
The army said it ordered an inquiry, but also said the delegation had strayed from a preapproved route. Military officials were expected to hold talks with representatives from the countries involved in order to clear the air over the incident, the army said.
“The IDF regrets the inconvenience caused,” it said in a statement.
In videos published by the PA, soldiers on a road blocked off by a large yellow gate can be seen aiming rifles and shots are heard ringing out as dozens of people are seen leaving the area, some of them showing signs of minor panic as they take cover in a convoy of cars.
Israeli soldiers opened fire at a delegation of foreign diplomats, including around 30 ambassadors and consuls, who were visiting the Jenin area. https://t.co/CDe96brrKo pic.twitter.com/rr8zNbknG3
— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 21, 2025
A diplomat present during the visit confirmed to AFP he had heard “repeated shots” coming from inside the Jenin refugee camp.
The group, which also included representatives from Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, India and elsewhere, had been touring the northern West Bank city, which has been the focus of several major Israeli anti-terror operations in recent years. The tour included a visit to the headquarters of the Jenin governorate, according to official PA mouthpiece WAFA.
In a statement, the PA foreign ministry condemned “the heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, which deliberately targeted by live fire an accredited diplomatic delegation to the State of Palestine during a field visit to Jenin Governorate.”
The IDF said troops fired in the air.
Hussein al-Sheikh, vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization, also condemned the incident in a post on X, stating: “We strongly condemn the shooting of the Israeli occupation forces on the Arab and foreign diplomatic envoys who were on a visit to Jenin Governorate,” calling on the international community to curb what he describes as the “brutal eruption” of Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza.
We strongly condemn the shooting of the Israeli occupation forces on the Arab and foreign diplomatic envoys who were on a visit to Jenin Governorate. We call on the international community to curb this brutal eruption of the occupation forces in the Palestinian territories.
— حسين الشيخ Hussein Al Sheikh (@HusseinSheikhpl) May 21, 2025
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, called on Israel to investigate the incident and to “hold those accountable who are responsible for this.”
“Any threats on diplomats’ lives are unacceptable. Israel is also a signatory to the Vienna Convention — the obligation to guarantee the security of all foreign diplomats,” she added.
A Western diplomatic official whose country was represented in the delegation called the event “a serious incident to which we will react.”
“This is not an ‘inconvenience,’” said the official. “It is a serious incident to which we will react appropriately, following consultations with our partners.”
In response to the incident, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani summoned the Israeli ambassador “to obtain official clarifications on what happened in Jenin.”
Tajani said earlier he had spoken to Alessandro Tutino, the deputy consul general of Italy in Jerusalem, “who is well and who was among the diplomats who were apparently shot at near the Jenin refugee camp.”
“We call on the government of Israel to immediately clarify what happened. Threats against diplomats are unacceptable,” he said on X.
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot also said on Wednesday that he would summon the Israeli ambassador to explain, calling the incident “unacceptable.”
According to the Israeli military, the incident occurred when the delegation left the route agreed upon in coordination with the army “due to the area being an active combat zone.”
The group “deviated from the route and entered an area where they were not authorized to be,” the army said, confirming that troops stationed there fired warning shots in the air, causing no damage or injuries.
Army Radio quoted an Israeli defense official saying that the soldiers who fired in the air were unaware of the identity of the group that approached the gate, and had sought to warn them away.
The IDF said the commander of the West Bank division, Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf, immediately launched an inquiry into the incident once it became clear that the group approaching the gate were the foreign diplomats.
Brig. Gen. Hisham Ibrahim, the head of the Civil Administration — a Defense Ministry body that is part of COGAT — ordered officers in the unit to immediately speak with representatives of the countries involved.
“He will soon hold personal conversations with the diplomats to update them on the findings of the initial inquiry,” the IDF said.
The incident came days after the UK, France and Canada issued a sharply worded joint statement Monday calling the amount of aid being permitted to enter Gaza “wholly inadequate,” and threatening “concrete actions” against Israel, including sanctions, for its activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
On Tuesday, the UK suspended free trade talks with Israel over its intensifying assault on Gaza and issued a fresh round of sanctions against West Bank settlers.
“I want to put on record today that we’re horrified by the escalation from Israel,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein called the new sanctions “unjustified and regrettable” and claimed Israel and the UK had not been talking about free trade.
Separately, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc was reviewing an EU pact governing trade ties with Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.